Battle of Sierra Grande
The Battle of Sierra Grande was the first major engagement between the forces of Caesar's Legion and the Llano Confederation and marked the westernmost point of Legion expansion south of Raton Pass. The battle was characterized by the use of advantageous terrain, as well as a few pre-war aircraft by the a smaller force of Llano troops to hold out until reinforcements arrived. Background Sierra Grande is a large extinct shield volcano rising about 2200 feet above the High Plains, located in the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field west of Clayton. During the pre-war period, the mountain was located in the US state of New Mexico, and was home to a radio tower. The tower survived the Great War, and had been used as an early warning site against raider attacks since only a few years after the Great War ended, the radio allowing for quick communication with Clayton. By the time Clayton joined the Llano Confederation in 2177, the mountaintop had been fortified to protect the radio tower, as well as the valuable ponderosa pine timber growing on the mountain, which, along with out forest on nearby mountains and canyons, was one of the few sources of lumber in the Confederation. Further defenses, including two surviving pre-war war tanks were deployed from Amarillo were deployed on the summit in 2268, when word of the expansionist Caesar's Legion reached the Confederation. Sierra Grande was one of several fortified summits around Clayton which guarded the approach to the city. Siege of Sierra Grande At 0900 hours on May 21st, 2271, Llano patrols and lookouts on the extinct volcanic peaks that dotted the area spotted a large Legion force advancing from Raton, former New Mexico under command of Legion military tribune Varro advancing to the east, towards Sierra Grande and Clayton. Knowing they would not be able to hold them against the massive force, the Llano watch stations were evacuated to Sierra Grande, while the radio tower on top of Sierra Grande was used to alert Clayton of the incoming force. In response, the 150 soldiers at Sierra Grande as well as the Llano regulars and militia in Clayton were mobilized to defend the city, while warnings of possible Legion attack were transmitted by radio, "leapfrogging" between surviving radio stations until they arrived at Amarillo. At 2000 hours on the 21st, the Legion force made camp near the pre-war town of Capulin. At 0600 hours the next day, the Legion force advanced towards Sierra Grande, placing artillery in position to fire on the mountain. The Legion advance was slowed by several Llano technicals, which launched hit-and-run attacks on the Legion flanks, with one even killing the crew of three artillery guns. Llano artillery, mounted near the summit of Sierra Grande, had practiced firing on the main approaches to the west, and thus knew the elevation and bearing the hit various targets. For this reason, the Llano artillery were more accurate than the Legion counterfire, who were aiming effectively by trial and error. By 0700 hours, Varro had ordered his forces, consisting of about 4000 Legionaries to advance towards the mountain, which was defended by about 350 men, including 150 Llano Army troops and 200 militia, mostly from the the logging camp located on the mountain. The Llano defenders, while small in number held an overwhelming terrain advantage, and had placed mines on many of the routes up the mountain, intending to box in attackers into using a few routes to the summit. Further up the slope, four concentric layers of trenches, foxholes, machine gun nests, and sentry turrets, each one higher than the next. If one position was in danger of being overwhelmed, the defenders could retreat through trenches running up the mountain to the next line. Many of the Llano artillery guns and mortars as well as the two tanks on the summit used the slope of the mountain as cover, with the tanks climbing to the peak to fire down on the Legion troops, before reversing down slope. As the Legion forces approached, supported by the few pre-war armored vehicles they possessed, they suffered heavy losses from Llano mortar, artillery, and tank gun fire, losing over 400 men and a dozen vehicles. Nonetheless, by the time they reached the base of Sierra Grande, they still vastly outnumbered the Llano defenders, and Varro was confident he could defeat the Llano forces through superior numbers. As the Legionaries reached the heavily forested, rocky slopes of mountain, they were slowed by Llano snipers, machine gun nests, and mines which were concentrated along dirt roads and gullies on the side of the mountain, which funneled groups of Legion infantry into chokepoints. To make matters worse, the few vehicles the Legion had were restricted to a few pre-war dirt roads up the side of the mountain, where they were made easy targets for artillery, infantry with rocket launchers, and the two tanks on the summit. In spite of the heavy fire, the Legion broke through the first line of defense at 0820 hours, however, they lost over 250 men to the heavy fire, while the Llano defenders had suffered only 67 losses, with many of the Llano defenders escaping to the second line of defense, which was located about 300 meters from the upper edge of the forests, on the mostly treeless summit of the mountain. The second defensive line was one of three positions located on the sparsely-treed upper slopes of Sierra Grande, at about 300 meters distant from the forest edge and 600 meters from summit radio tower. The third line, placed at 600 meters from the forest edge and 300 meters from the summit, as well as the fourth line surrounding the radio tower at the summit. All three lines were spaced so that they could fire over the heads of the lower lines, straight into attackers exiting the forest below. At about 835 hours, the first Legion infantry exited the forests, onto the open upper slopes of Sierra Grande, where they entered a kill zone, immediately coming under fire from small arms, artillery, mortars, and tanks guns. The Legion made three attempts to charge the across the open summit and reach the second line of defense, the nearest cover. After two attempts to attack directly, at 1015 hours, a group of about 600 Legionaries moved through the forests and attempted to flank the defenders, attacking from the south. This was the closest the Legion came to the summit of Sierra Grande, with small groups of Legionaries making it to the second line of defense, only to be repulsed in close quarter fighting. This third attack, however, was repulsed in large part thanks the two tanks, an M60 Patton and an M49 heavy tank, whose guns could be quickly brought to bear against attackers from any direction. By 1030 hours, the Legion forces had lost an addition 400 men in their three assaults on the summit. In spite of this, Varro was convinced that he could surround the defenders and outlast them until they ran out of ammunition. However, Varro had underestimated the capabilities of the network of radio towers that survived the war, as well as few pre-war vehicles that remained servicible to bring small in number, but heavily armed support to the besieged defenders. Air Support and Reinforcement Upon receiving the radio message from Sierra Grande and Clayton garrison commander Juan Jimenez, the government of Llano had sent orders for surrounding settlements to mobilize their militias and regular army garrisons. Among those mobilized included 500 men from Boise City, 400 from Dalhart, and 600 from Clayton, as well a force of 14 armored personnel carriers and seven tanks, and 20 technicals, which drove north from Amarillo. In addition to the ground reinforcements, seven aircraft, including two light planes, one from Boise City and one from Dalhart, a B-25 and two P-51 Mustangs- former air museum specimens- from Liberal, and an F-80 fighter and a C-47 transport carrying supplies from Amarillo. The first of the air support to arrive were the two light planes from Dalhart and Boise City at 1020 hours, which dropped a few improvised bombs and strafed the Legion infantry with attached miniguns. While these did relatively light damage, the heavier aircraft from Liberal and Amarillo did more significant damage, with the B-25 and the two Mustangs arriving at 1105 hours and attacking with bombs, rockets, and machine gun fire. These attacks destroyed a number of Legion artillery guns and vehicles, and killed over 200 troops. After expending its bombload and ammunition for its forward guns, the B-25 banked to the side and fired its side and rear guns, at the Legion, acting as a gunship. The final two aircraft, the F-80 and C-47, arrived at 1115 hours, with the F-80 launching gun and rocket attacks on the Legion forces, while the C-47 delivered much-needed ammunition to defenders on top of Sierra Grande. In total the air attacks killed over 500 Legion troops and forced them to retreat off the mountain. Legion tribune Varro was believed to have been killed when one of the P-51s attacked the Legion camp in Capulin. By 1500 hours, reinforcements had began to assemble in Clayton in significant numbers. At 1645 hours, the Llano Army and militia forces, led by the mechanized forces that arrived from Amarillo, advanced towards Sierra Grande, reaching the mountain by 1710 hours and easily clearing the few Legion stragglers off the mountain. By 1725, the tanks and other vehicles of the Llano force were advancing towards the remains of the Legion camp at Capulin. Under fire from heavy weapons and, at this point, split into several smaller forces of 200 to 500 men, many of the surviving Legionaries fled the camp in the pre-war town and retreated to the north and northeast, with about 1318 making it back to Legion-controlled Raton. Aftermath The Battle of Sierra Grande was a disaster for the Legion that was unprecidented until the later defeats at Narbona Pass at the hands of the UNU and the First Battle of Hoover Dam at the hands of the NCR. Over 1800 Legionaries were killed in the battle, and over 800 were captured, many of them wounded. The 1318 survivors who made it back were punished by decimation for their failure, resulting in the execution of 131 more Legionaries. After the Battle of Sierra Grande, Caesar did not order another attack on Llano-held territory, instead focusing his efforts on the far more disorganized tribes north of the Raton Pass in nuclear-devastated ruins of Colorado Springs and Denver, which proved far easier. The conflict between the Legion and Llano would devolve into a series of small-scale raids, with neither side launching major attacks until the latter part of the NCR-lead NCR-lead attack on Legion forces in New Mexico, where Llano forces would participate in the attacks on Raton and Tucumcari Category:Battles Category:Events